How Much Did You Pay For That Blunt? StatCan To Crowdsource Marijuana Data

Cannabis is now in the domain of the data scientists.

As part of its efforts to collect data on the soon-to-be fully legalized cannabis market, the federal statistical agency will be launching a new platform where members of the public will be able to share how much they paid for marijuana, and how much of it they consume.

​​It's all part of an effort to make marijuana an integral part of Canada's economic data as the country prepares for full legalization of recreational pot next summer.

StatCan released its first tranche of data on the economics of marijuana in December. It found Canadians spent $6.2 billion on cannabis in 2015, nearly as much as the $7 billion they spent on wine, though less than the $9.2 billion spent on beer.

Details of the crowdsourcing plan are to be announced in Ottawa Thursday morning.